“I've stayed in slab huts  over the years … and I've always been intrigued on how they built them,” said the Braidwood farmer, who will be building a replica of Berry’s hut at Jinden in which Tommy and John Clarke were captured 150 years ago.

“I've known [historical society president] Peter for years and years, and I've always been keen on wood and old-fashioned stuff, old tools and everything.

“When the opportunity came up, I was always going to build myself a hut, so now I get to build it, and it gets used up there, and then I get to keep it.”

Mr Hart is using building techniques he was taught by his father and grandfather. He admits to a few modern shortcuts. “I do cheat and use chainsaws … rather than just the axes."

While his father and grandfather were happy enough to teach him about past building techniques, some things about the past were never mentioned.

“On my father's side … Charlotte Hart married Tommy Clarke the bushranger,” he said. He is also related to Catherine Clarke, sister of Tommy and John Clarke, on his mother’s side.

“I can remember my great-aunty and my grandfather. They never talked much about the bushrangers at all.” He thinks a bushranging background would have then been too close for comfort. “One generation back, that was them,” he says, “my grandfather's aunty was the sister [of the Clarkes]."

He believes, however, that enough time has passed that a bushranger in your family tree is nothing to hide. “I suppose, then, you were ashamed to have bushrangers in your family,” he said, “but you know I'm proud of it really now. I know they probably did the wrong thing, but still it's something to look back at."

Berry’s hut at Jinden was where the Clarke brothers were captured. The replica hut will be erected in the showground for the re-enactment of their capture on April 29-30.